Parallel
by Francesca Montag
Summary: Traveling between parallel universes was impossible, but Tyler finds herself in the middle of someone else's story.


_Okay readers...this one is a bit different. This involves an AU Rose...I hope you like it - it's my first try in that area!_

* * *

__**Parallel**

Tyler checked the calibrations on the screen in front of her. _How could it be_, she wondered. It was impossible for her to travel between universes. Before, it would have been a piece of cake - but now, well, it was surprising that the universe wasn't imploding. She watched the circles swirl and bend on the screen and decided, well, why not have a look see? The return trip home could be figured out later. She grabbed her leather jacket from the rail on her way out as she bounced down the steps of her ship.

She walked out the doors, making sure she heard the doors click closed behind her. There was no need for Tyler to turn around and check that her ship was invisible - she could always trust that her ship would behave. Tyler wasn't the only one with a penchant for time traveling.

Taking an elastic band out of her jean pocket, she gathered her blonde hair into a lazy ponytail. The curiosity for what lay ahead of her made her bones shake with anticipation.

There were crowds of people walking alongside her as she made her way down the sidewalk. They were all different colors and sizes - but what united them all were their apparent accent. They were British. She'd recognize her accent anywhere. Tyler looked up and around her.

London. Circa 2005. Or so.

It was difficult to hide her annoyance. Of all the places she could have landed and she landed in her own backyard. Granted, 300 years in the past, but still.

Some things had changed, of course. The fashion in her time was a lot darker, hence her black leather jacket, tight jeans, books and makeup. This London seemed a lot brighter somehow. Hopeful, even.

_Wonder if I'll run into a version of me here_, she wondered.

Suddenly, someone running past her in the opposite direction bumped into her shoulder. Hard. She stopped sharply and turned to look. All she could see was a brown blazer running away from her. She shrugged it off and continued on her way.

Her curiosity led her to a trendy clothing store. Music blared as she walked in, but it was nothing like she was used to hearing. Tyler was just about to walk back out the store to save her ears when a glance to her left caused her to stop in her tracks.

It was her.

Tyler hurried to hide behind a stack of jeans. She tried to steal a peek and was astonished with what she saw. It was the parallel universe version of herself. Parallel was quite right. This Tyler...girl...was her complete opposite. They were both blonde (from a bottle, of course), had fair skin and the same body type, but that was were the similarities ended. Everywhere in which Tyler was dark, this girl was bright. Like sunshine.

She was wearing a bright pink sweater with sleeves that hung so long they covered her knuckles. Her jeans were blue and baggy - a sliver of skin could be seen as they hung a bit low. The sneakers on her feet were white with colorful stars on the sides. She wore bracelets that jangled and her lips were pink.

Tyler should have hated this girl since she was wearing everything she could ever possibly hate.

And yet - the smile the girl wore was so bright that Tyler idly wondered if it were possible for anyone to ever hate this girl.

Some might have thought it biased - the girl was wearing Tyler's face, after all - but if Tyler was anything, it was honest. This girl, her doppelganger, was brighter than she could ever be.

She was tempted to go up to her. For a crazy moment, she wanted to walk up to her casually and let her in on the secrets of the universe. She wanted to let her know that there was more to life than working at a trendy boutique.

But she didn't want to kill the sunshine that seemed to eminate from this girl.

And so Tyler made her way out the store, trying her best to keep hidden in the world of this girl.

She would never consider herself to be a sentimental person. Never had she cared for someone else like she did about herself. Never got too close. What she felt for her dear doppelganger, it hit her like a brick. It was abnormal for her.

As she shook off the feeling, she wandered down the sidewalk, not really paying attention to where she was going. It was as if the feeling of caring about another person had caused her to lose her equilibrium. It also made her feel more alone.

It was a feeling she liked to run away from. Shamelessly, she ran. Tyler never stuck anywhere long enough to care about anyone.

It was a rule of sorts.

A sigh escaped her as she aimlessly crossed the street.

It was the screech of tires that finally woke her out of her reverie. And the feeling of something ramming into her so hard she could feel her bones ache already. There was a scream and a yell. The yell was that of a name that was not her own.

When Tyler opened her eyes, a pair of hazel ones were staring back at her. She could sense pain there, and worry. But who would be worried about her here?

His mouth was open and she knew he was talking, but she couldn't register the urgency of his voice. All she could hear was ringing. She looked at the sharpness of his jaw, the mess of his hair and the paleness of his skin. It was strange to notice how handsome he was under such circumstances.

She closed her eyes for a moment and opened them again. Slowly, the noises around her, including the stranger's frantic voice, began to seep through.

"Rose! Rose, can you hear me!" he yelled.

Rose?

Tyler could feel her brow furrow, and then the name registered. He wasn't screaming for her, but the girl that shared her face.

As unlikely as it was, she could see that he realized it at the same moment she did.

She was not his Rose.

Tyler watched, as she tried to sit up, that he was getting everyone who had gathered around them to slowly disperse. With his help, she stood up. He held on to her as she staggered to a nearby bench.

"Uh, thank you, for that," she took a deep breath and winced as her ribs hurt.

"Are you all right?" his voice rang with worry. Worry for a girl that wore his friend's face.

"I'm fine. Just, ribs," she hoped that was enough of an explanation.

They sat quietly as she gathered her bearings. He fidgeted. Tyler recognized the back of his brown blazer as the one that walked away from her earlier. She would have chuckled if it didn't hurt to do so.

Time to get down to business.

"So, you know I'm not her," she said matter-of-factly.

He turned to look at her, his hair falling into his eyes. Tyler hated how good looking he was.

"I got that. Should have known before really," his voice sounded sad.

She sat up straighter and positioned herself a bit closer to him, "Yeah, she's wearing pink."

The stranger sat up straight and would not stop looking at her. It made her feel suddenly very self-conscious.

"You saw her? Did she..." there was a bit of panic in his voice now.

She held up a hand, palm out to him, "She didn't see me. I'm not new at this, you know." Which was quite a lie as it was her first time in a parallel universe.

He simply nodded and looked away from her again.

"You, you're a time traveler as well, then?" Of course he was, why else hadn't he gone screaming like a lunatic.

The stranger mumbled something that sounded in the affirmative.

It was obvious he didn't want to speak to her. She had over-stayed her welcome in this universe.

Tyler stood up achingly slow. The man next to her shot up so quickly that it caused her to wobble on her feet a bit. Again, he held her elbow to steady her. She gave him what she hoped looked like a smile and slowly detached herself from his grip.

Then he looked at her. Really looked at her and said, "You're so different."

The statement made her frown reappear, as well as her sarcastic wit, "Yeah, well, we can't all be rainbows and sunshine. Now if you'll excuse me white knight, I'll be on my way."

And without another look his way, she turned and walked away from him in the direction of her ship. She couldn't wait to leave this strange place.

Tyler heard the steps of his boots as he ran after her. He kept pace with her and didn't say a word at first.

And then, "Is there anything I can help you with?"

He sounded like a cashier at the local mart. There was that annoyance again.

"Look pretty boy, I can handle my life. You, on the other hand, look like you're in the need of some guidance," she stole a look at him through the corner of her eye.

The stranger looked thrown off kilter. Bingo.

"I don't know what you're talking about," the words of a child, she concluded.

They were in the alley where her ship was hidden. She could feel the hum and longed to be on her way already.

Still, Tyler could not help but want to leave some parting words for this strange traveler. Perhaps it was because he reminded her of herself. Maybe she was losing her edge. She was no longer sure. Tyler stood in front of her ship and turned around to face him. He almost collided with her.

The proximity of his body to hers made her feel flushed suddenly. He stood still for a moment, looking into her eyes and then her lips before he took a step back.

She laughed humorlessly, "I guess we're not that different after all." He didn't say a word.

Tyler sighed, "Look, don't lurk. If you want to see her, talk to her, just do it."

He looked up at her then, pain unlike any she'd seen engraved deep into his eyes. Then he said, "It's not that easy."

She smiled just then. She couldn't help it; this guy was hopelessly in love with a girl that looked just like her. Almost.

She took a step closer to him and stood on her tiptoes to place a kiss on his cheek. He looked surprised and so was she, but she was better at hiding it.

"What was that for?" he asked.

Tyler shrugged, "Just because. It's nice to feel cared about, even if I'm not the one you're caring for. Thanks for saving me, by the way."

As she placed her hand on her ship's door slot, she heard him say, "You don't always have to run away you know."

There was no conviction in his voice and that's when she knew that he had run away too.

She couldn't help it; she was an impulsive girl. Tyler turned around, one foot inside her ship and said, "I'll stop, when you do."

With a smirk, she boarded her ship, both glad and sad to leave the lonely man.

* * *

_Let me know what you think. Be nice please? lol I do read all your reviews and messages btw :) I just take forever to answer anything. Sorry :(_


End file.
